Iowa lawmakers vote to let teachers, school employees get permits to carry guns at school

Iowa lawmakers have sent a bill to Gov. Kim Reynolds that would allow teachers and other school employees to obtain permits to carry guns on school grounds and grant them qualified immunity for using reasonable force.

The Iowa House voted 62-36 Monday to send House File 2586 to Reynolds for her signature. One Republican, Rep. Matthew Rinker, R-Burlington, joined every Democrat in opposition. All other Republicans voted in favor.

The Senate passed the measure last week.

The bill also requires Iowa's largest school districts to employ school resource officers in their high schools, unless their school board votes to opt out.

Republican supporters of the bill have framed it as one of the state's responses to the deadly shooting at Perry High School in January, when a high school student shot and killed sixth-grader Ahmir Jolliff and Principal Dan Marburger and wounded half a dozen others before fatally shooting himself.

"Time and math do not lie," said Rep. Phil Thompson, R-Boone, the bill's floor manager. "The first 30 seconds in these scenarios are extremely critical. This bill does set a high standard for districts and staff that want to participate in this and go the extra mile to protect our kids."

Gun violence prevention groups have held protests and spoken out against the bill, saying it will make students and school employees less safe by increasing the likelihood of accidents involving guns in schools.

"It does nothing to protect children who might be the victim of crossfires, of accidents, of a gun not being properly stored or a curious student finding a gun and accidentally injuring other children," said Rep. Beth Wessel-Kroeschell, D-Ames.

A 2023 report from the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence documented about 100 incidents of guns being mishandled, left in reach of children or accidentally discharged at schools over the last five years.

More than 30 states allow teachers or other K-12 school staff to be armed in at least some circumstances, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

What training would Iowa staff need to get a permit to carry guns at school?

Those who want to carry firearms in schools will be required to go through a permit process that includes one-time, in-person legal training covering qualified immunity, emergency medical training and communication training, as well as quarterly firearm training and annual "live scenario" training.

That process would be approved by the Iowa Department of Public Safety.

The legislation allowing school employees to obtain professional permits to carry firearms applies to K-12 public and private schools, community colleges and public and private colleges and universities.

The identity of a staff member who has a professional carry permit would be confidential and exempt from Iowa's public records law.

A Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll conducted in February found 60% of Iowans favored allowing teachers and other staff to carry firearms in schools after completing training. Thirty-eight percent opposed the policy and 1% were not sure.

The bill would give qualified immunity to armed school staff with professional permits, protecting them from civil lawsuits or criminal prosecution if they used "reasonable force" and acted within the course of their duties.

Opponents have argued that exempting armed school employees, and the districts themselves, from lawsuits will leave families with no options to receive compensation if their loved one is shot at school.

"When you have no liability for teachers in the school district, all children will be at risk," Wessel-Kroeschell said. "All families will have nowhere to go when their children are harmed or seriously injured."

Will Iowa school districts that arm staff be able to get insurance coverage?

The legislation builds on a previously passed law that let school employees carry firearms but did not require districts' insurers to cover them.

Two Iowa districts in recent years have approved arming their staff before later reversing their policies. Spirit Lake and Cherokee both opted not to go forward after EMC Insurance declined to cover the rural districts ahead of the 2023-24 school year if they proceeded with arming staff.

Last year, House lawmakers passed a bill that would have barred insurers from denying coverage to districts based solely on the district's decision to arm their staff, but the measure failed in the Senate.

EMC Insurance has said it will continue to insure districts that use trained law enforcement or school resource officers.

The group said in a statement last week that it shares "a deep commitment to the health and safety of students" and it respects schools' right "to choose the policies they believe to be in their best interests."

"We believe this legislation could attract more insurance carriers to Iowa along with potentially more options for schools to find coverage that fits their needs," the statement said. "This would be a positive outcome for all."

Large school districts would have to hire school resource officers unless the board votes to opt out

The state's largest school districts — those with 8,000 or more students — would be required to employ school resource officers in high schools unless the district's school board votes to opt out.

School districts with fewer than 8,000 students would be encouraged to employ school resource officers.

The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency reports that 11 districts would be required to hire at least one private school security officer or school resource officer. They are Ankeny, Cedar Rapids, Council Bluffs, Davenport, Des Moines, Dubuque, Iowa City, Sioux City, Waterloo, Waukee and West Des Moines.

It could cost school districts about $63,000 to employ a school resource officer, assuming they share some of the cost with local law enforcement.

At a maximum, LSA calculates it would cost about $2.5 million for the 11 school districts to employ school resource officers at 40 high schools as required by the bill. But some of those school districts already employ school resource officers, meaning they would not see increased costs.

According to the LSA analysis, the Department of Public Safety would need to hire eight positions to train SROs and school employees who obtain professional permits to carry guns at school, as well as develop a new record management system to track who has a permit.

That could cost the department about $600,000.

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa House OKs bill allowing armed teachers, giving qualified immunity